Grenade adapter



May 20, 1947. 'w FOX I 2,420,661

GRENADE ADAPTER Filed July 3, 1945 William Mervin. Fax

Patented May 20, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,420,661 GRENADEADAPTER William Mervin Fox, Havre de Grace, Md.

Application July 3, 1945, Serial No. 603,103

3 Claims. (01. 102--65.2)

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and usedby or for the Government for governmental purposes without the paymentto me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an improved means for adapting hand grenadesto launching from small arms such as the rifle and carbine.

Grenade adapters now in use for mounting hand grenades on small armshave been found objectionable under combat conditions because stressesoccasioned by setback of the grenade shear or unduly distort the grenadesupporting fingers of the adapter causing erratic flight and decreasingthe range of the grenade.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of agrenade adapter having a grenade supporting means and an improvedclamping means thereon for firmly and securely positioning a grenaderelative to the adapter tube and tail assembly to assure of accuratenight and to increase the range of the grenade.

Another object is to provide an adapter having grenade seating andgripping means thereon which absorb the shock of setback and uniformlysupport the grenade during flight.

These and other objects and advantages will be apparent as thespecification is considered with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of the adapter with the grenade positionedthereon;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of same with the grenade disassembledtherefrom;

Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout the several views, numeral Idesignates a grenade adapter consisting of a tubular body '2 and anannular tail assembly 3 secured to the lower end thereof. The tailassembly is adapted to be mounted in a conventional manner on alauncher, not shown, mounted on. the muzzle of a rifle, also not shown.

Mounted on the outer end of the tubular body 2 is a conical shaped metalcup 4 forming a tapered seat for the lower end of a conventionalfragmentation hand grenade 5. The grenade consists of a cast iron shellbody, oval in longitudinal section and circular in cross section, havinga series of circumscribing grooves l5 and longitudinal grooves formedtherein. A series of vertical cuts 6 are made in the conical wall of thecup 4 to provide a series of equally spaced, relatively flat, dependingtongues 1, preferably three in number. The tongues are bent or flattenedat their lower ends, as at 8, to snugly fit against the tubular body 2and uniformly support the cup on the end of the body.

A series of preferably three equally spaced long tudinally extending,relatively fiat, leaf spring fingers 9 have their base ends Ill laidflat so as to overlie and engage with the bent lower ends 8 of thetongues I. The lower ends of the fingers and tongues are suitablysecured to the tubular adapter body by screws or the like H.

The outer end of the cup is formed with an outwardly extending annularlip l2 having three spaced lips or enlargements I 3 extending laterallyfrom the periphery thereof. Slots M are provided in the lips t3 throughwhich the fingers 9 extend. Thus, it will be seen that the cup 3 and thefingers 9 are secured together and both are connected to the tubularbody of the adapter. Upwardly and inwardly bent portions l5 formed oneach of the fingers are adapted to fit within one of a series ofcircumscribing grooves it provided in the body of the grenade 5, whenthe grenade is thrust within the fingers, in an obvious manner asillustrated in Figure 1, and serve to clamp the grenade securely inposition relative to the cup 3 and adapter body.

A downwardly depending, slightly curved, fiat clip ill is suitablyconnected by a rivet or the like it to the extremity of a relativelyflat projection i! formed on one of the fingers 9. Mounted on the clipI9 is a, hollow sleeve 20, substantially rectangular and oblong in crosssection, which normally snugly fits between the outer and inner faces ofthe projection I! and clip Hi, respectively. Whenthe grenade 5 is fittedbetween the fingers 9 and seated within the cup 3, the conventionaldownwardly depending, relatively flat, curved safety lever 22 of thegrenade extends through the sleeve 20. Thus, the sleeve 20 serves tohold the lever 22 in the unarmed position so that the striker, notshown, carried by the upper end thereof will be prevented from strikingthe percussion primer and igniting the fuze train in the grenade beforethe adapter and grenade are launched from the weapon in the conventionalmanner. While the inner wall of the sleeve 2!) extends between andfrictionally engages the inner and outer faces of the clip l9 andprojection IT, as well as the outer face of the lever 22, the sleeve isprevented from being accidentally dislodged from these members and thesafety lever by an inwardly bent retaining pin 2| integrally formed onthe lower end of the clip 19.

The interior dimension of the tube 2 is the same as that of the tailtubes of rifle grenades and the like. The launcher for such grenadesconsists, as is well known, of a tubular piston-like attachment for theend of the rifle, adapted to fit slidingly in the tube 2, so that when acartridge of suitable propellant is then fired in the weapon the gasespass from the muzzle into the tube and are confined thereto by theconventional launcher, as shown in Patents Numbers 2,339,- 285 and2,335,299 to W. T. Moore. Thus, the adapter and. grenade held thereinare propelled over a distance much greater than the ranges possible bymanual tossing.

In the use of the invention, the adapter being assembled as described isset erect upon some horizontal surface while the grenade 5, withoutspecial adjustment or modification, is positioned coaxially over thefingers 9 of the adapter and the extremity of the safety lever 22entered into the upper end of the sleeve 20. The grenade is moveddownwardly until it rests against the bent portions I5 of the fingers 9symmetrically, after I which suificient pressure is applied to cause thegrenade surfaces to cam the fingers outwardly and enter therebetweenuntil the bent portions l5 engage in the middle transverse groove [6, atwhich time the lower portion of the grenade will be seated Within theconical cup 4. The fingers will then hold the grenade firmly in coaxialalinement with the adapter tube 2.

The adapter and engaged grenade now as a unit constitute a projectileready for launching. This is effected by placing a propellant cartridgein the chamberof the rifle or carbine and the adapter with the grenadethereon is mounted on the weapon by sliding the tail assembly 3 thereoflongitudinally inward on the launcher. At this time, the usual safetypin 23, carrying a ring 24, is removed from the grenade and the latteris armed, The firearm is then cocked with its butt set upon the ground,armed and the trigger actuated to fire the propellant cartridge. Theimpulse thus imparted to the adapter and grenade moves them forward sorapidly that the inertia of the sleeve overcomes the friction betweenthe sleeve and the projection 11, clip 19 and safety lever 22, andcauses it to move rearwardly thereon with such force that when itstrikes the retaining pin 2 I, the latter is broken and the sleeveclears the clip and lever. Thus, the safety lever is caused to be thrownoif by the striker in the manner well understood in grenades. As thestriker fires the percussion primer and ignites the fuse train, beforethe grenade has moved more than a few feet toward its target, thebursting charge will be assured of being ignited effectively.

The rearward movement of the grenade caused by inertia or setback isabsorbed by the conical cup 4 so that grenade clamping fingers 9 arerelieved of the shock occasioned by this movement of the grenade. Thatis, the fingers are braced or reinforced by the cup 4 and the same willbe prevented from being sheared from the adapter. In this connection,grenade bodies are usually rough castings so that it is not possible toobtain a flush fit between the bottom of the grenade and the adapter.The cup 4 compensates for an uneven fit between the grenade and theadapter which results in stresses being unevenly distributed to thegrenade clamping fingers so that one of the fingers will be sheared orunduly distorted, As previously described, the conical wall of the cupwill absorb such stresses and will prevent the same from beingtransmitted to any one finger in such a way that the latter will besheared from the adapter. Thus, the clamping fingers will be assured ofsecurely holding the grenade in position on the adapter during itsentire course of flight.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my grenadesupporting and clamping means, it is to be understood that variousimprovements and revisions may be made without departing from the scopeand spirit of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An adapter for mounting on a weapon a grenade of the type having asafety lever, comprising a tubular body, a vane assembly on said I body,circumferentially spaced spring clamping fingers fixed to said body andextending forwardly thereof, one of said fingers having means forengaging said safety lever, and a ring member carried by said body andsurrounding said spring fingers at a point substantially forward of saidbody, whereby the tendency of said fingers to distort on setback isminimized.

2. An adapter as in claim 1 wherein said ring is the rim of afrusto-conical cup.

3. An adapter as in claim 1 in which said fingers are threaded throughsaid ring member.

WILLIAM IWERVIN FOX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 932,214 Wieser Aug. 24, 19092,368,064 Fanger Jan. 23, 1945 2,383,053 Fanger et a1 Aug. 21, 1945FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 109,273 Great Britain Sept. '7, 1917

